Good Hair Day

I’ve been asked a few times via Instgram followers to do a post about how I do and take care of my hair. It’s funny because I really don’t do anything super special. I am pretty blessed with my mom’s thick hair (by the way, her hair is still crazy amazing at 60-something- we should ask HER what SHE does). My hair was always my safety blanket, even when I felt horrible about every other part of how I looked. Even when I was sick, my hair stayed pretty great. So when I had a majorly awful coloring (and corrective coloring) incident with a new colorist four years ago that left me with such damaged hair that started breaking and falling out, I absolutely lost my shit (pardon my French, but it’s true). It took that to realize how much of my confidence was wrapped up in my strands. The more I stressed about it the worse it got, a vicious cycle. For over a year I was so self-conscious and depressed (even though everyone said they couldn’t tell much of a difference). Long story short, I skipped coloring it for a very long time, did lots of masks and worked on my stress level and it got better. So now when people compliment my hair it makes me happy again! While I’m not one to do photo-shoots of myself doing my hair, here are my favorite products and how I get my messy waves:

Left, happy waves in the early fall Right, miserable waves in the winter.

(That is not a duckface, that is a “I hate the cold” face”)

1. & 2. I am so obsessed with this L’Oreal shampoo and conditioner. It’s works wonders for such a good price. Better than some I’ve tried that cost six times this much!

3. Once in a while I love using this peppermint shampoo to feel like I’m really cleaning my scalp. I lather it up and leave it for a few minutes to get a good tingle on.

4. I put a pump or two of this awesome oil through the ends/ middle of my wet hair and then brush through. This big bottle has lasted me over two years so for the price it’s worth it!

5. Another oil I use sometimes is this L’Oreal one, I’ll spray on my ends if I’m out of Absolue. I also use this on my dry hair (sparingly) to calm frizzies! It’s genius!

6. I love to air dry my hair as it has natural wave- when it’s not 194 degrees below zero I’ll spray this sea salt spray on my hair from roots to mid-shaft and let it air dry for good slightly tacky texture.

7. If it’s freezing out (like now) I’ll put a little bit of this mousse on the roots and blow dry with my head upside down for some lift and volume. I’ll use a large round brush here and there but I don’t dry it straight because the more texture there is before I curl the longer the waves last!

8. I use this 1″ super hot (i.e. I’ve branded Andrew with this when he’s come into the bathroom at an ill-advised time) curling iron. I section my hair with clips so I can get the underneath part first and holding the iron with the wand pointed down I take 1-2″ sections and wrap them around the barrel away from the face. Wrap fro root to tip- don’t start at the bottom! Hold for a few seconds and release. Repeat over entire head.

9. I flip my head over, tousle everything so it’s not so perfectly curled and sometimes blast the root with a little Oribe Dry Spray (amazing dry shampoo/ texturizer). A lot of times I skip this and do it the second day when I don’t wash it. P.S. this stuff is AWESOME for updos as it adds a lot of grip to the hair!

10. To finish, a light spritz of Elnett- the only hairspray I’ve used that isn’t crunchy at all.

28 comments

Love your blog, love your hair!! I started highlighting and changing my base color (to correct grays) as well and noticed when in shower it is falling out so bad. What did you do, stop coloring all together? Do you highlight now? Mine is so fried and I hot roll on top of that!….AHH

These are great tips! I just had a baby (well 6 months ago) and was lamenting to my husband that I haven’t actually done my hair in awhile. I was watching the Bachelor and having hair envy. I may have to go out and buy all of these products.

P.S. I have hair kind of like yours and I laugh now because I spent so much time in high school with it short above my shoulders like all of the other girls and straightening it to make it flat as board. Now I’m like, why didn’t I embrace having thick wavy hair?!

Debra- I do a partial foil every 4 months or so (embrace dark roots!) and cut a good inch or two off too for health. I too now have to deal with greys now! The highlights help conceal but at some point I guess I’ll have to really color it!

thank you for this post! I too have a love/hate relationship with my hair and am always looking for the right products. (what woman doesn’t?) I should do the curling iron technique more regularly but find it so time consuming with thick hair that I slack off and only do for special occasions.

Erin,
You are a gorgeous girl with amazing hair! Great products! For us gals getting a bit older (60 this year!) my sister and brother-in-law gave me a wonderful product for my hair. Kevin Murphy Young.Again. It’s an infused treatment oil. I love it! Your mom might like it. And the fragrance is heavenly. Love you blog!

Love this! I use everything on your bottom row…so now I want to try everything on the top knowing that we have the same hair product taste! Another good hairspray that is comparable to Elnete is Moroccan Oil’s…it smells so good and not crunchy at all!

I really enjoy reading your website, but was wondering if others have asked you to make the font bigger – I have trouble reading the light gray type in such small fonts. Sorry if this is annoying! Your photos are beautiful and those I can enjoy no problem.
Thanks again for producing such a great blog.

Love your hair style, Erin.
I am also using about 50% of the products you use. Also the same technique with the curler, but the results are not even by far so fabulous. Must be the different texture of my hair.
But yes, the products are all amazing (Elnett is …the hairspray! )